Honorable Mention --> Most Friendly
Miguel is owned by Lisa Viteri of Juneau, Alaska. Congratulations To Miguel and Lisa! Lisa can be contacted at lisav@alaska.com.
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Miguel is a 2002 hatch Medium Whitefaced Blue Violet Peachfaced Lovebird cock. He was still quite young and hadn't gone through his first molt when he was given to us by a dear friend. Though he hadn't been handled much in over a month before he joined our family, he quickly took to being handled and interacting with our family as if he'd always been here. My daughter named him after another close friend of the family.
After his first molt, Miguel took an unusual romantic interest in the roof of his 'Happy Hut', which by the way, must have made him extremely happy as he began romancing it every single day, several times a day. This led us to start looking for a mate for him and by the time he was a year old, his bachelor days were pretty much over. It made us very happy that, despite having a sweetheart that had feathers like him, Miguel still enjoys coming out of the cage to hang around with the humans in his 'flock', including being buddies with my five year old son whom we still supervise during his time with Miguel.
Miguel has made many friends over the course of his 3 1/2 years. Our friend who gifted him to us sees him from time to time, and he's endeared himself to all who get close enough for him to fly or hop onto. Our home is busy with a Daycare and now a growing Aviary - he's made the most of the abundance of humans who visit. He's wonderful with children and adults alike. He's even charmed his way into the hearts of a couple of people we know who were not 'pet people'.
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The only time Miguel has ever been aggressive is when he was nesting with a mate and I 'crossed the line' and peeked into his nestbox. I was met by quickly fluffed feathers and him lunging toward me with wings stretched out as he gave a mighty squeak. Well, to him it was mighty. Though I thought the squeak was rather cute (much like the sound of a rubber toy that squeaks when you squeeze it), his body language was sincere in letting me know he needed me to leave the nest alone. I can only imagine the feelings I'd have if a giant (albeit a friendly one) lifted the roof of my home and peered in to see what I was doing. I learned quickly that the natural instinct to protect his eggs/chicks is still very much alive, as it should be, in even the tamest of Lovebirds. After raising chicks, he quickly returns to his 'social butterfly' ways. When not breeding, he resides in a large 64" long double flight cage that houses a flock of up to a dozen Lovebirds. He can socialize, play with toys, get plenty of exercise and still, he gets along with both birds and humans. When I come to the flight cage, he flies to the bars and chirps at me as if to say, 'Hi! Come get me!' He'll then ride around on my shoulder while I check food and water dishes or go to do other chores. He's a very proud little Lovebird who seems to know he's getting the best of both worlds with humans and birds. He's very interested and social to the younger birds he sees me handfeeding, which is fun to see as he reminds me of an 'Uncle' fussing over nieces and nephews.
At 3 1/2 years old, he is still very sweet and friendly. He cruises the house with us, lays on his back in the palm of a hand and looks up at us with one of his 'I know I'm cute' looks, runs down an arm to play in the running water coming out of the kitchen faucet, and likes to explore my desk while I'm at my computer. We supervise him around our larger birds as he really wants to make friends with them too but he doesn't realize they could hurt him, even unintentionally. He truly wants to be friends with everyone.
He is an amazing member of our family and we love him very much.
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